Letter from the Director. acronym Mount Olympus

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1 Letter from the Director acronym Mount Olympus II

2 Position Paper Guidelines Position Paper Guidelines What s it all about? The purpose of a position paper is to display your understanding of the committee topics as well as your position s stances on different issues. Writing a position paper will assist you in your research and preparation for the conference. The position paper will be comprised of three to four sections, depending on the number of topics your committee covers. Section One: Background Information Introduce your country or position by providing basic information and background. This section should start out broad, followed by any general information that is relevant to the committee. This only needs to be done once not for every topic. Remaining Sections: Topics Write one section for each topic. The header of each section should be the topic name as it is titled in your Background Guide. These sections should be roughly half a page to one page (double spaced) in length and should include: 1. Background information on the topic 2. Your position/country s stance on the issue at hand 3. Statistics and other relevant information with respect to your position 4. Policies or actions your position/nation has supported 5. Proposed solutions to each of your topics 6. Responses to the Questions to Consider provided throughout the Background Guide

3 Position Paper Guidelines Formatting A position paper should be formatted like a formal essay: use 12 pt. Times New Roman font, black ink, and 1 margins. All information that is not common knowledge should be cited using your most comfortable format (ex. MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). The header of your paper should include the following pieces of information: 1. Your Full Name 2. Full School Name 3. Committee (World Health Organization, United Nations Development Program, etc.) 4. Country/Position

4 Letter from the Director Dear Delegates, Welcome to WMIDMUN! My name is Sydney Boer, and I am excited to be your in-room director. I grew up in the Boston area (go Pats!) and am proud to be part of the William and Mary community. I am a freshman double majoring in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies. I discovered Model United Nations (MUN) as an upperclassman in high school. At the College, I found an amazing MUN community. We had a blast traveling last semester! This will be my second conference as a staffer at William & Mary. Outside of MUN, I enjoy rowing, art, food, and languages. I also spent this past summer studying Arabic in Morocco. I loved history in high school, so even though I haven t studied Ancient Greece recently, I am very familiar with the time period. The Crisis Committee will be fun and thought provoking. Most of you are new to MUN and crisis committees, but don t worry! I am there to help guide discussion so the Gods may create peace on Earth. As delegates, you will largely decide what happens during committee. You can control this through debate, joint directives, and crisis notes. Debate will be fast, so be prepared to think on the spot. There will also be several crisis updates, which will disrupt committee. You will have to solve these as well. My crisis director, Sulieman, will answer your crisis notes. Use your character s portfolio powers and your crisis notes to create progress in committee. I strongly suggest working together to solve problems in committee. Also, I expect all of you to be respectful of your staff and your fellow delegates regardless of the nature of ancient Greek society. The committee begins in Ancient Greece in 440 B.C.E. Currently, it is an era of peace. However, there are two major issues. First, tensions grow between the people of Athens and the people of Sparta. Greeks fear that another war is brewing. Second, a philosopher named Socrates gains a following of young Athenians. He may pose a threat to Greek society because he challenges democracy and the Gods. As the Gods, you are responsible for ruling over the ancient world. Suleiman and I expect you to work together to form solutions for these problems, though we anticipate strife between the Gods. In order to understand and participate in committee, you must write a one-page position paper. They are not for us, but so you will be prepared for the conference. In the paper, please address the two topics from the perspective of your character. Please contact me with any questions! Can t wait to meet all of you! Best regards, Sydney Boer (5th Century) Director smboer@ .wm.edu

5 Letter from the Crisis Director Hello Delegates, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to WMIDMUN seventeen. I ll have the honor to serve as your crisis director for. I am currently a freshman at William & Mary. I am originally from Lahore, Pakistan, and I am pursuing a major in Finance & Economics. Model UN has played a huge part in my life ever since I got involved during my freshmen year of high school in Pakistan to when I move across the Atlantic to the States my sophomore year. I have competed in multiple crisis committees and I have chaired/staffed various committees as well. I am super excited for because I am truly a huge fan of Greek & Roman mythology. Whether this is your first crisis committee, or you ve had previous experience, I ll make sure you ll know how the committee will run with crisis updates, crisis notes so you all don t need to worry about that. The committee will start off with a crisis update relating to the topic given and then it will be up to you the delegates to come up with innovative, diplomatic ideas about the best way to find a solution. The advice I ll give you all to prepare for the committee is to research the powers that your character possess so you can utilize them in your crisis notes (which basically are notes that you ll send to the crisis room to influence the committee) and to read the background guide and research thoroughly. I am eagerly waiting to welcome you all to this year s iteration of WMIDMUN. Best Regards, Suleiman Tahir Crisis Director stahir@ .wm.edu

6 Background Athens. 480 B.C.E. Welcome to the world of ancient Greece. The Athenian people rejoice. After years of fighting, the Persian War has ended. The city-state of Athens successfully drove away the Persian Empire (whom they also call the Medes) from the Mediterranean Sea. During the war, the city-state built up the strongest navy in the Mediterranean and transitioned into a democracy. All male citizens over the age of 18 may vote in elections and participate in the Athens Assembly. Women, children, foreigners, and slaves cannot. In order to protect themselves from future Persian attacks, Athens is forming the Delian League with cities around the Aegean Sea. Their navy becomes the most powerful in the Mediterranean. The cities give tribute, like raw materials, crops, and slaves, in exchange for the Athens naval protection. Athens protects their wealth from the League on the island of Delos. However, some claim the system is extortive. As the leader of the Delian League, Athens enters a golden age of knowledge and prosperity. Men like Socrates, Euclid, and Herodotus pioneer philosophy, mathematics, and history. Architecture flourishes. A great orator and general named Pericles is set to become the next leaders. Sparta, 450 B.C.E. With Aries as their patron God, Spartan society is very militant. They are a skilled land power. All Spartan boys enter the Agoge education system at the age of seven. They train to become professional soldiers from the age of 20 to 60. Because of the men s duties, Spartan women enjoy more freedom than their Greek counterparts. Slaves, called Helots, perform all manual labor. Because the Helots outnumber the Spartans, the Spartans treat them harshly to prevent uprisings. The Spartans distrust the Athenians because of their great power. They fear that Athens has taken too much power and that they will abuse the Spartans with it.. 5th century B.C.E. The 12 Gods of gather to discuss the state of the world. Earth below usually crumbles in war and slavery and injustice. However, for now the world is at peace. Or so it seems. Up in Mount Olympus, tensions fill the room. Demeter loathes Hades because her daughter, Persephone, had just joined him in the Underworld for winter. Centuries ago, Hades had kidnapped Persephone. While she was held captive, she ate four pomegranate seeds. When Demeter finally negotiated her release, Hades claimed that since Persephone had eaten four seeds, she must return to the Underworld for four months a year. Poseidon and Athena also quarrel. Poseidon is jealous because Athena had won a competition to become patron of Athens. Each had presented the king with a gift: Poseidon, a sea; Athena, an olive tree.

7 The kind decided Athena s gift was superior, so she become patron of Athens. Hera has problems with her husband, Zeus, because he is not a good spouse. He always escapes to Earth, so Hera is jealous and revengeful of humans. Hopefully, the Gods can overcome their personal issues to broker peace between Athens and Spartan society. Topic I: Peloponnesian War Summary After Athens successfully drove off the Persians in 480 B.C.E., they clearly became the dominant city-state in Greece. Sparta, a Greek city-state south of Athens, is the next most powerful entity in the region. The Spartans grew hostile towards the Athenians in fear of being conquered, especially with the Athenians new construction. Athens build the Long Walls surrounding their city and the nearby port city of Piraeus. These walls ensured that Athens would have access to the sea regardless of war. Even if an enemy surrounded them by land, like the Spartans, they could gather supplies, food, and allies through the port. It also strengthened their position as a naval power. Sparta wanted their own territory and power too, and Athens was preventing them from that. The First Peloponnesian War Corinth was another powerful city-state in ancient Greece. They were geographically closer to Athens than Sparta, so they has more to fear from an Athenian attack than Sparta. Between 460 B.C.E. and 446 B.C.E., Athens and Corinth fought in a few battles over colonies. Corinth had created a colony called Corcyra. Corcyra had recently declared its independence from Corinth. However, when pirates besieged them, the Corcyraeans bid the Corinthians to aid them. Corinth, angry at Corcyra for leaving them, sent their own soldiers to take back the colony. Both Corinth and Corcyra asked Athens, the most powerful city-state of Greece, for aid. Athens decided to help Corcyra in the name of freedom, but also in order to weaken Corinth. When Athens won the battles, the Corinthians blamed Sparta for their inaction, saying that the Spartans should have fought against Athens. Athens also called out Sparta. They warned that during the Persian War and these battles, they had shown restraint. If

8 necessary, they would swallow Sparta into their Sea Empire just as they had with so many city-states. Obviously, Sparta did not like to be bullied. Sparta itches to test their military might against Athens. Meanwhile, Pericles, a young statesman in Athens, starts persuading the government that they should wipe out Sparta once and for all. inclined to join the Peloponnesians in their fight for freedom. Potential Alliances Athens Delian League functions as a economic partnership, an Athenian empire, and an ethnic group. Most subjects in the Delian League are Ionian Greeks. They live around the Aegean Sea in around 200 coastal cities and islands. The members of this League are prosperous because of their trade. Athens is a symbol of advanced democracy and culture for Greek civilization. The slave Helots of Sparta might see them as a savior from their harsh masters. Athens political ideology clashes with the Spartans, who use an oligarchy of a few ruling families to maintain order. They are part of the Peloponnesus, a group of Dorian Greeks who originate from the Greek mainland. Peloponnesus people generally side with Sparta in hopes of maintaining their autonomy from the foreign Delian League. Some colonial subjects in the Delian League who feel oppressed and taken advantage of by Athens might be There is a possibility of Persia (the Medes) to return to ancient Greece. Although Athens, with some aid from Sparta fought them off, the Persians are still angry for losing the war. Should Athens seem weak or unstable, Persia might be tempted to fight against them, or give aid to Sparta in their war. As patron gods, Athena of Athens and Aries of Sparta will probably disagree on which Greek city-state should be dominant. Poseidon has always wanted Athens as his own city-state, so although he will probably help the Athens, he will not help Athena. All Gods should use their portfolios as cues for their position in the potential conflict.

Potential Courses of Action Warfare City-states constantly fought between each other in ancient Greece. Therefore, war is not unlikely for Sparta and Athens.

9 Potential Courses of Action Warfare City-states constantly fought between each other in ancient Greece. Therefore, war is not unlikely for Sparta and Athens. Armies commonly used hoplites, which were heavily armored soldiers, in a phalanx formation in battle. The Greeks had not yet perfected siege warfare, so conquering walled cities remained difficult. However, the Greeks did have catapults, flame throwers, and battering rams. Athens claims about 30 ships for every Spartan vessel, so they have the sea advantage. The Gods can facilitate peace negotiations between themselves and humanity too. Some historians consider Athens to represent the beginning of modernity; the birthplace of Western democracy, rights, arts, and culture. A peace treaty would ensure that these values could flourish and innovate. The Gods could completely change the course of history. Destruction The Greek Gods are not known for their compassion. They famously manipulate humanity for their own pleasure and games. With the Greeks distracted by their tensions, the Gods have the opportunity to severely harm human society. Perhaps, the Gods will decide that they should have more of a say in Earthly affairs. Feel free to research the events of the Second Peloponnesian War. However, you are not required to follow the events in committee. We encourage creativity. Peace Treaty The Gods have the opportunity to help the people of Earth find everlasting peace. With their godly power, can persuade the Greeks to act in certain ways. Using your portfolio powers and joint directives, the Gods can influence the weather, the ocean, battles, and people. Questions to Consider 1. What are you the God of? What are their values and goals? How would your God feel about the topics of war and peace? 2. Which Gods hold similar values to your God? Which do not? Who would make a good ally?

3. How could a potential war between Sparta and Athens proceed? What are examples of successful battles and military techniques that the ancient Greeks used? 4.

10 3. How could a potential war between Sparta and Athens proceed? What are examples of successful battles and military techniques that the ancient Greeks used? 4. How could tension be defused between Athens and Sparta? What are examples of successful peace treaties and characteristics of Golden Ages? Topic II: Socrates Summary In the 5th century B.C.E, Athens was experiencing a Golden Age of culture and power. More people could participate in government, historians recorded their histories, mathematicians advanced geometry, and artists created life-like sculptures. The flow and innovation of ideas marked Athens as the center of prosperity in ancient Greece. The Athenians were proud of their image as the educational and cultural center of the world. In order to teach their children the arts and morals, the Athenians sent their sons to small private schools from the age of 6 to 16. Afterwards, if the family could afford it, the sons studied science and philosophy. All Athenian men had to serve in the military from ages 1820, so they would learn the art of war as well. One product of the Athens educational system, a man name Socrates, revolutionized Western philosophy. After serving in as a hoplite in the Athenian military, he retired from Athens society. Socrates did not attend the Athens Assembly or exercise his right to vote, nor did he travel around the Greek world to advance his philosophical work. Instead, he collected young male students around the city and questioned them in order for them to think critically about their world. One of these pupils was Plato, who would later become a famous philosopher. These students were the brightest and from the wealthiest families in Athens, so Socrates influence on them would determine the future of Athens. This possibility frightened the Athenian leaders. Socrates criticizes many aspects of Athenian society. He mistrusted Athenian democracy because it did not protect

11 minority groups in Athens; democracy listens to the majority. He mocked the Gods and religious ceremonies as frivolous; some historians suspect Socrates was an atheist, so he did not believe in the Gods. He asked his followers, why pray to the Gods? What have they ever done for you? But most of all, Socrates disliked the Council of 500, which were a group of elected male citizens that essentially ruled the city. He argued that when you give people power, it makes them greedy and cruel. As tensions with Sparta grew, the leaders of Athens feared that Socrates supported the Spartans, and was turning his pupils against the government. In times of war, unity is very important for a state. The Council of 500 discovered that some of Socrates followers were feeding information to the Spartans about Athens. However, they had not yet discovered evidence directly condemning Socrates himself. It was illegal to undermine democracy and the public good in Athens. So, they arrested Socrates and accused him of treason against Athens. Potential Courses of Action Stop atheism Because Socrates does not believe in the Gods, that could undermine the Gods authority on Earth. The Gods want the Greeks to believe in them so they can get tribute, gifts, and respect. Therefore, the Gods could make Socrates seem crazy, or give him a bad reputation, in order to prevent people from falling to atheism. Reform Democracy is a powerful form of government that much of the modern world values today. It allows people to voice their opinions and elect leaders that represent their values. Athenian democracy is the basis for modern democracy. However, it is not perfect. Only Athenian men over 18 can participate, and the Council of 500 holds rich men who can afford not to be paid for their service. Socrates could make a great spokesperson for this cause. The Gods have the opportunity to reform democracy to make it more equal for everybody. Or, they can create a new form of government. Do Nothing The Gods might decide that this issue should be dealt with by Earthly affairs, not. The Gods have greater things to worry about than one rebel. Destroy Socrates Some Gods might believe Socrates is too dangerous, with his large amount of followers and radical ideas, to stay alive. He might cause Greek society to revolt against the Gods. Therefore, sending him

12 to Hades in the Underworld might be an easy solution. Questions to Consider 1. What are the benefits and drawbacks of democracy? How could the Athenian government be improved? Research different forms of government, like monarchies, democracies, and oligarchies, to see the pros and cons of different forms of government. 2. What is your God s opinion about democracy, religion, and leadership? 3. How could Socrates harm and help the Gods? Should the Gods interfere in the trial? What are the consequences of the Gods intervention? 4. How does the topic of Socrates relate to the Peloponnesian War?

13 References References 1 The Myth of Hades and Persephone, Accessed January 5, AthenaEurope. Athena and Posidon s Contest for Athens, 2016, Last Modified Cartwright, Mark. Peloponnesian War, Last Modified May 2, Sacks, David. "Peloponnesian War." Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World, Third Edition. Facts On File, Accessed January 10, online.infobase.com/auth/index?aid=9730&itemid=we49&articleid= Kraut, Richard. Socrates, Accessed 7 January

Geography and Early Greek Civilization

Geography and Early Greek Civilization Do Now How does geography influence how you interact with your neighbors? Learning Targets and Intentions of the Lesson I Want Students to: 1. KNOW the differences